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The panel looked into areas where little research had been previously conducted.

Those areas included the consequences of second-hand marijuana smoke, the long-term impact of prenatal marijuana exposure, the therapeutic potential of the individual chemicals found in the marijuana plant, and the effects of marijuana legalisation policies on public health in the U.S.

Stronger health effects may occur with today’s more potent marijuana, they warned, as older studies are based on the effects of lower-potency marijuana.

‘It is
important to alert the public that using marijuana in the teen years
brings health, social, and academic risk,’ said lead author and NIDA
director Dr Nora D. Volkow.

The damaging effects of the drug persist even if a person stops smoking it in adulthood

‘Physicians in particular can play a role in conveying to families that early marijuana use can interfere with crucial social and developmental milestones and can impair cognitive development.’

Recently, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, found smoking cannabis before the age of 15 could lead to insomnia later in life.

Any history of using the drug was associated with an increased risk of reporting difficulty getting enough sleep.